Kyosho Pureten Alpha 3 Modifications

[brkosebay 1]

Hello everyone,

 

So, I am quite new to the hobby and recently, I have found my dads Kyosho Pureten Alpha 3 EP in storage, and brought it with me to play around with it. I cleaned the whole thing and lubricated things that needed to be lubricated, set the gear mesh etc. Pretty much prepared it for a run. I only got the chance to run it properly once and mid-run the suspension shaft decided to bend and head out (it was a diy job I later found out). Since then I have replaced the suspension shaft with the proper part and now just waiting for the weather to be better so that I can run the car again. Anyway, during all of this I have done quite a bit of research about the car and just couldn't find many modifications to do in order to make the car better. I am going to be buying a ball bearing set since the car only uses metal bushings and I am also planing to buy on-road tires since the area I use the car is flat concreate. Does anyone know any mods I can do to my car to improve anything? All information regarding the car (if anyone has some) will be much appreciated. Have a good day folks.

[markbt73 5311]

Hi, and welcome!

Unfortunately, I don't know if we'll be much help. The Pure Ten Alpha cars were not very popular, at least compared to other inexpensive entry-level touring cars, and because the chassis didn't sell well, it wasn't supported by aftermarket companies. So there aren't many Alpha-specific hop-ups around, unless Kyosho made some themselves.

The good news is that it's a touring car, of standard proportions, and using the same basic design "language" as many others, so a lot of non-model-specific parts will fit. Any touring car-sized body (255-260mm wheelbase and 190-200mm width) should be at least a "close enough" fit to make it work, and that means there are hundreds of body styles to choose from. Likewise, any wheels with 12mm hexes will work, though you might have to add a shim to an axle here or there to make it work. And if you wanted to upgrade the shocks, most touring car shocks are about 60mm long, and should be able to be made to work. I don't know if the Alpha cars came with oil-filled shocks or not, but if not, a good set would certainly help with the handling.

I wouldn't go too crazy with the power, if you decide to change out the motor. Entry-level Kyosho cars tend to be built to survive beginner abuse (soft and bendy), which is exactly the opposite of the traits you want for handling lots of power (strong and rigid). Honestly, I'd keep the stock motor in it, and spend money on some newer battery packs instead. Even fresh Ni-MH batteries will wake it up, if the pack you have has been in storage a while. Don't worry about brushless, lipo, etc for this chassis.

And post some photos! We love photos.

[brkosebay 1]

9 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

Hi, and welcome!

Unfortunately, I don't know if we'll be much help. The Pure Ten Alpha cars were not very popular, at least compared to other inexpensive entry-level touring cars, and because the chassis didn't sell well, it wasn't supported by aftermarket companies. So there aren't many Alpha-specific hop-ups around, unless Kyosho made some themselves.

The good news is that it's a touring car, of standard proportions, and using the same basic design "language" as many others, so a lot of non-model-specific parts will fit. Any touring car-sized body (255-260mm wheelbase and 190-200mm width) should be at least a "close enough" fit to make it work, and that means there are hundreds of body styles to choose from. Likewise, any wheels with 12mm hexes will work, though you might have to add a shim to an axle here or there to make it work. And if you wanted to upgrade the shocks, most touring car shocks are about 60mm long, and should be able to be made to work. I don't know if the Alpha cars came with oil-filled shocks or not, but if not, a good set would certainly help with the handling.

I wouldn't go too crazy with the power, if you decide to change out the motor. Entry-level Kyosho cars tend to be built to survive beginner abuse (soft and bendy), which is exactly the opposite of the traits you want for handling lots of power (strong and rigid). Honestly, I'd keep the stock motor in it, and spend money on some newer battery packs instead. Even fresh Ni-MH batteries will wake it up, if the pack you have has been in storage a while. Don't worry about brushless, lipo, etc for this chassis.

And post some photos! We love photos.

Firstly, thank you for your response! Since my first post, I have done quite a bit of research and as you have said, I am planning to keep the motor stock as firstly the handling isn't super even with the stock motor and secondly brushless and lipos cost a bit too much for my current bugdet (student currently :P). I have run the car 2 times since my first post and I have to say the car is quite fun. However, as measured today, my old NiCd batteries only provide a runtime of mere 8 minutes flat.

The car does come with oil shocks and I am planing to replace the oil in them with some 35wt (450 cst) oil to hopefully make the handling on road better. I am also definitely buying a set of ball bearings and proper on road tires for the car to make it run a bit smoother. I wanted to upgrade the servo on the car with a high torque one (specifically looking at the DSSERVO DS3225 high torque servo from banggood) but this whole COVID-19 thing has got me worried of purchasing parts from China

As for the batteries, I spent some time looking at 7 cell 8.4V NiMH batteries since my ESC does support it but I am afraid there just isnt enough space for the 7th cell in the battery compartment of this car. I found two NiCd batteries in the box of my car, one being the stock Kyosho 7.2V 1400 mAh and one upgraded 7.2V 2400 mAh pack with Sanyo 2400 mAh NiCd batteries. I think that this car has been in storage for about 13-14 years, and the stock Kyosho one is completely dead, so I am definitely considering replacing the battery. However, I have one question. This car has only has NiCd batteries and the charger is specifically for NiCd batteries as well, even though I dont think it matters since voltage is voltage in the end, but will using 7.2 V NiMH batteries in the car possibly damage it in any way?

Anyways, thank you again for the response, and I will be posting some photos in the next posts!

[brkosebay 1]

 

 

 

 

 

[brkosebay 1]

 

[markbt73 5311]

Wow, that thing is practically new...

I personally wouldn't bother with a higher-torque servo. Touring cars don't require a lot of muscle to steer, so I doubt you't see much improvement from it.

As for batteries, NiMH will work perfectly with the car, but you'll need a new charger. A charger made for NiCDs will cook a NiMH battery, because it won't sense the peak and know when to shut off. Lots of good cheap choices for chargers that will handle different types of batteries these days. And a 3000mAh NiMH pack should give you a good 20 minutes of run time at least, probably more.

[fwdjump 249]

Hi,

Any news on the project?)

[Jonesy924 76]

On 2/7/2021 at 11:52 PM, fwdjump said:

Hi,

Any news on the project?)

I would like to hear from him also 🤣